13 May 2002

FICSA attended a meeting organized by the ILO Staff Union on Monday, 6 May, to discuss the efforts of the ILO Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) to reform the ILO Administrative Tribunal. The Staff Associations and Unions of the forty organizations that recognize the ILOAT were invited to participate in the meeting. Staff Associations and Unions were sent a copy of a proposed approach to the drafting of proposals for reforms to the ILOAT. FICSA distributed that document for comments to the officers of the Standing Committee on Legal Questions and, through FAO/WFP-APS, to two FAO staff members who are lawyers, one of whom was a former officer of the FICSA Standing Committee. FAO/WFP-APS then provided its comments to FICSA.

In November 2000, ILO brought to its Governing Body the Collective Agreement on a procedure for the resolution of grievances. Article 21.2 of that Agreement specifies that the Office and the Staff Union would negotiate proposed amendments to the Statute of ILOAT.

In 2001, the JNC met to discuss this issue and agreed to set up a working group. The working group met on 28 February 2002 to review a list of 39 points on which the Staff Union proposed changes to the existing Statute and practices of the Administrative Tribunal.

The working group reached substantial agreement on ten issues, discussions would continue on another 13 points (notably the issue of the establishment of a second appellate body and the introduction of class action) but no agreement was reached on the remaining 16.

FICSA had consistently maintained that discussions on the reform of the ILOAT should be broadened to include all users of the Tribunal. The present meeting was therefore a welcome development.

ILO and the Staff Union identified 9 issues on which they agreed that the existing practices, Statute or Rules of the ILOAT could benefit from amendments or clarifications. Participants were requested to comment on the following issues:

1. Locus standi
2. Disclosure
3. Oral hearings
4. Stare decisis
5. Judgments
6. Adjudication on substantive grounds
7. Standards of justice
8. Time limits
9. Irreceivable or frivolous complaints

David Dror, ILO SUC; Alan Wilde, ILO HR Director; and Edward Flaherty, lawyer/consultant made presentations.

Participants did not limit their comments to the nine issues of general agreement. Instead they raised questions about the remaining 30 points, how all organizations would be represented in the future, the reasons for opposition to certain points, whether the nine issues were the best ones to push for, the feasibility of making change, the need to get administrations on board, the independence of judges and quite a few other areas.

FICSA stated that it was premature to take a position. It shared many, if not most, of the questions raised but it had not been given sufficient time for consultations with the membership. FICSA Members had regretted the late invitation and the fact that the paper outlining the entire 39 points identified by ILO Staff Union had not been distributed. Therefore, the timeline set by ILO would seem to be a bit tight. In response to a question about the Federation’s position on a second appellate level, FICSA responded that its position had not changed; it was still against a second level of appeal.

David Dror drew attention to an article, "International Organizations and Immunity from Justice", that had appeared in the January 2000 issue of the International and Comparative Law Quarterly (pp.1-15). The author had identified four arguments/options: limit immunity, establish a second appellate level, fix the first appellate level, and/or wait for decisions from other courts. Mr. Dror maintained that a breakthrough was needed to ensure more justice for international civil servants. It was not at present a question of one avenue or another; a course should be chosen that had a high likelihood for results.

After a detailed discussion of the nine issues of general agreement, it was agreed that all staff associations and unions should have an opportunity to review and provide comments on all 39 issues identified by the ILO Staff Union. The Union would distribute the documents to all associations and unions with a request for comments. A meeting to discuss the comments was scheduled for 28 May. FICSA was requested to encourage its members to provide comments and to participate in the meeting.